Sharon Dunten: Are we turning our backs on sick, elderly, children?

Monday

Sep 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2009 at 3:55 PM

As the most charitable nation in the world, the U.S. gives billions for disaster relief, hunger, diseases and shelter. Other nations and people seek out the U.S. for relief in despair and also for protection. Yet, when it comes to providing health care to our own citizens, it becomes a political firestorm of enormous proportion.

Sharon Dunten

As the most charitable nation in the world, the U.S. gives billions for disaster relief, hunger, diseases and shelter. Other nations and people seek out the U.S. for relief in despair and also for protection. Yet, when it comes to providing health care to our own citizens, it becomes a political firestorm of enormous proportion.

According to the Institute of Medicine, an estimated 18,000 people die each year in the United States as a direct result of being uninsured. The uninsured are less likely to receive preventative care, including immunizations and cancer screenings, and are more likely to die from delays in early detection of life-threatening conditions.

The reason many individuals do not seek health care is because of the cost, according to the 2007 Commonwealth Fund Biennial Healthcare Insurance Survey. The survey also shows that 60 percent of adults older than 65 are having trouble paying off medical debt, even though they were insured at the time of the medical procedure, visit or test. This means their basic needs — food, shelter and heat -- are in jeopardy.

With health care costs continuing to increase, the “have and have-nots” are polarizing, with the spectrum getting far too wide.

Let’s take another look at what can be done. Forget about the death camps, euthanasia or how this country is going to go bankrupt; it is not going to happen. Let’s get serious about talking about medical care. Here are some strategies in the works. Love them or leave them; just think about them.

And just stop listening to politicians. Think about your fellow Americans and their health care needs.

- Insurance that allows everyone to chose his or her health insurance, whether it is private or a new public option.

- Health care standards -- with comprehensive and financial protection -- that all insurance plans would have to meet.

- Affordable insurance that is relative to income; all U.S. citizens would be mandated to carry health care coverage.

- Expansion of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. CHIP insures all children whose family lives under 150 percent of the poverty level, without premiums and with low-cost sharing. A raise in the Medicaid provider payment rates to Medicare levels would also need to be considered.

- Shared U.S. responsibility for health care. In other words, all employers would either offer private insurance coverage or contribute to a national health care fund.

- Health insurers would offer coverage to anyone wishing to enroll and to charge the same premium, regardless of health status or pre-existing condition.

Believe me, I understand health care reform is not going to be easy. The shift in the status quo and the backlash of the insurance and health care industries are going to be substantial.

Are you willing to let one more person die or suffer because the wealthiest country on earth isn’t willing to take care of its most vulnerable citizens: the sick, the elderly and their children?

Please continue to support the charities of your choice, which may reach thousands of miles away in underdeveloped countries facing social injustice and suppression. The downtrodden deserve a portion of our wealth to help them through difficult times and help them get back on their feet.

But why is it that we won’t help our own people, our sick, our children, our elderly?

I guess it may be because it is not tax deductible — or isn’t that what we pay taxes for?

I have found when issues become personal in this country, we become passionate. Isn’t your neighbor’s health and well-being personal enough?

Sharon Dunten is editor of the Maryville Daily Forum in Maryville, Mo.